All multimedia about transport

Transport, including international aviation and maritime transport, accounts for around a quarter of total EU greenhouse gas emissions. Based on analysis of long-term trends, a new European Environment Agency report calls for a clear vision defining Europe's transport system by 2050 and consistent policies to achieve it.
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Urban traffic is responsible for 40% of CO2 road transport emissions. In Europe, 9 citizens out of 10 are exposed to harmful particle emissions that are higher than the tolerated norm. Time wasted in traffic jams will soon cost 1% of the European Union’s GDP. In terms of urban transport, the European Union contributes to financing infrastructures and equipment, but also supports projects aiming at replacing petrol by alternative and clean fuels. Most cities in the EU are putting in place a mix of advanced technologies and transport policy measures, such as alternative traffic management systems to combine mobility and quality of life. The EU cooperates with cities, notably through the CIVITAS network, to favour the exchange of know-how and best practices at European level.
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Road transport generates about one fifth of the EU's CO2 emissions, with passenger cars responsible for around 12%. This makes it the second most important source of greenhouse gases. Although there have been significant improvements over recent years in vehicle technology, these have not been enough to neutralise the effect of increases in traffic and car size.
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In celebration of the European Mobility Week, EEA staff examined its own impact on the environment with daily commuting to work. This video shows a few modes of transportation used by some employees. A recent survey among staff showed that 53 % of them walk or cycle to get to work and many others walk or cycle in combination with public transport.
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Students from the Copenhagen International School answer to the question “If you were the President of Europe, what would you do to help decrease pollution and improve our environment?”. Increasing taxes on cars and using that money to invest in environmentally-friendly forms of transportation are the most cited policies a green President would implement.
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Peder Jensen, EEA transport and the environment expert.
Transport is harmful to the environment in many different ways. The most visible effect of transport is some of the emissions that we see: we can see the exhaust gas coming out of a car and at certain times it's very dirty and very dark. It's a very visible way where it's harming the environment, harming the air that we are all breathing. But there are also effects that are not quite so visible - when we are burning fuel in our engines we are emitting a lot of different gases and some of them are invisible greenhouse gases that help trap the heat in the atmosphere to get the earth to go warmer.
One of the other important effects of transport is the noise impact. Noise means that people have a hard time sleeping, that they therefore don't get the rest that they need. It also affects the animals, disturbs their life, if roads or railroads run through nature areas it therefore means a reduced quality of life for both animals and people.
Finally, transport infrastructure has a tendency to fragment natural habitats for animals. Lots of animals are disturbed by roads, they cannot cross the road, they are either scared off by the noise or they can't find ways to cross these different infrastructures and this means that the habitats they are living in don't work so well for their reproduction.
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